Depression and Hope

I didn't attend thanksgiving this year because of my depression.  I've been so depressed I've been idealizing the end of my life. :( I decided to call my mom and spill out my emotions about my health issues and how school has been a struggle because of them. She told me she's going to look into dental insurance for me.  This blew my mind.. since she is so broke I did not expect that.

I cried happy tears..!

I might get this surgery covered and live a "normal" healthy life. I'm enthralled!  I can't wait to breathe from my nose while I exercise and sleep.. that's what I'm looking forward to most.

Updates after I get my dental insurance quotes. :)

Not giving up!

The sleep specialist was surprised at how much I knew about the interconnectedness of the jaw with the rest of the body.  I was flattered.  I have been researching for over a year now..

I didn't end up getting the sleep appliance.. I'd rather just get the 2 piece Le Fort honestly.  I just want to improve my life for good..

Problem: my mom just cancelled our health insurance.. so I don't know if I can do this now :(  If I can it'll be far off in the future I'm sure.

I need a surgeon who's on the same page as me with the surgery plans.. who are some good oral surgeons near bloomington, indiana? I really could use some suggestions..
 

Consultation - Not so well.

Hi, this is an update about how my consultation with my new ortho went. Well, it didn't go too well. He seemed very set on not supporting my surgery. His argument: He's done a lot of surgeries, and there are times people come out with more problems then they originally had. He recommended a sleep appliance specialist to help my tmj pain and fatigue throughout the day. I fought my case, but he would not change the way he felt. So, I'm giving the sleep specialist a shot because if he's seen people much happier after going to this doctor, I might as well right?

I really hope a sleep appliance improves my life. Hopefully I'll be able to ditch my antidepressant. :)

Few Pictures of My Bite

This is my bite. Doesn't seem bad right?
Wait until you see how little tongue room I've got..
(Circles indicate overbite and crossbite.
Also, my line of symmetry does not match top and bottom..)

This is what I'm talking about with my tongue..
My tongue isn't even completely relaxed here and it still doesn't fit into my palate.

This is a picture that shows how narrow and deep my palate actually is..
My canines are wearing from talking (I bring my lower jaw up to say a lot of sounds).
My molars are tilted from having braces.
My orthodontist tried his hardest to get them to sit correctly..

My Life with a Bad Bite!

Hello everyone, I'm Hayley. This is a new blog for the journey I've decided to take: upper jaw surgery. I'm thinking 2-peice lefort I (le fort I and SARPE). I have a high narrow palate, the result of an underdeveloped maxilla. I know I want this because it will improve the quality of my life significantly.

This problem has affected me my whole life.. I get recurring TMJ headaches.. and have disruptive sleep from my maxilla's underdevelopment obstructing my nasal airway. I had braces a while back (8th to junior year of highschool), but they didn't seem to do the trick to fix my bite. I had severely crowded teeth, so they extracted 2 top and 2 bottom molars. I'm extremely insecure about the way I speak (and sing.. nasal passage is too small to breathe rhythmically). When I'm not smiling, people think I'm frowning or sad! This is because my cheeks sag down from the extractions and crossbite. I also have dark circles and my upper lip is thin.. all because of the lack of support in my face.

My orthodontist actually gave up on fixing my bite. There wasn't much else he could do after 2 1/2 years. They took my braces off when my teeth were sitting on top of each other and gave me an invisalign retainer that eventually broke because my relapse force was apparently really strong. Ever since, I've had a crossbite. This is just the beginning of a long road for me. I've read countless blogs about SARPE and plently of research articles about jaw surgery.. Now that I know more about it I feel more comfortable. At first, I was appalled by pictures/videos of the surgery.

My first consultation is tomorrow at new orthodontist. I hope it goes well! I want this.. :/